skilled labor
Americannoun
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labor that requires special training for its satisfactory performance.
-
the workers employed in such labor.
Etymology
Origin of skilled labor
First recorded in 1770–80
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Policymakers continued to see inflationary risks stemming from AI investments, improving pricing power, higher inflation expectations and demand for skilled labor, Danske Bank analyst Jens Peter Sorensen says in a note.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
Many of the price complaints in business surveys are classic supply constraints: tariffs; Persian Gulf energy volatility; construction materials; tight skilled labor and AI-driven bottlenecks.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 6, 2026
Some tech leaders attribute the drop in industry employment mostly to overhiring following the pandemic, when skilled labor was hard to obtain and retain.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 1, 2026
The Federal Reserve’s latest survey of businesses observed that while demand for workers has softened, “firms reported continued challenges finding skilled labor, particularly in engineering, health care, and other trades.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 8, 2026
On the plantations there was little demand for skilled labor, small room anywhere for a middle class of manufacturers and merchants, no inducement for independent farmers who would till with their own hands.
From Our Southern Highlanders by Horace Kephart
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
